Tuesday, December 26, 2006

This year's gadget

Thanks for all the Merry
Chistmasses you left for us in comments and e-mail. Ours was
great because we were all together, and when you fought with Teddy at
San Juan Hill you don't take that for granted. Since the weather
was accommodating we were able to observe our traditional 5K family run
on Christmas morning. It's not a race, but at the end I always break
into a sprint so I can "win" (and I did win), but this year RO got cute
and tried to out sprint me, so I tripped him. Haven't had to do
that for several years. Anyway he had some abrasions that had to
be tended too before gift opening. We went to midnight mass, and
that was actually a great time. They had a full brass section to
accompany the choir, and our million dollar pipe organ. The music
was so real, it sounded like the best Dolby Sound you've ever heard.

Christmas is of course a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, or if
you're Jewish, the birth of Joe and Mary's son who could have been a
doctor, but didn't get into medical school. It's also, at least
in our house, a time to buy Mother Superior a gift she didn't ask for,
doesn't want, and probably won't work, but might. This year it
was the Roomba.

The reviews I read on it were mixed. Half said it didn't work;
the others (probably writ by the product's inventor) said it was
wonderful. Per usual, I did not read the reviews until
after I bought it. I did see it on HSN (Home Shopping Network);
they said it was great, and it did appear that way. The idea is that
the Roomba vacuum cleaner will use robotic logic to traverse every nook
and cranny of a room, leaving it clean as a whistle. After an
hour or two, it will return to its docking station and
recharge itself. If you have the optional programmer, it will
leave again at a selected time, and do it all over again. I can
dispel one criticism right now - it does work. Reagan
the Wonder Dog does not shed, but if we still had Boomer the German
Shepherd, all that hair on the white rug wouldn't be there to sour
certain people, initials MS, on that breed.

The video amplifies the sound Roomba makes. In
actual practice it sounds more like those RC cars your kids
get for Christmas .. it's there, but not nerve grating. By
contrast, the Hoover Wind Tunnel vacuum we use sounds like a 747 on
takeoff (I'm not kidding - I wear my shooting ear muffs when that
thing is running - - not a joke).

Since we knew company was coming, you know (if you're married)
that the floors and rugs were spic and span, yet (above) you can see
the produce from the first run after I read the directions. Of
course it was after all the festivities, but still. That green
stuff is the rug pad that Greeper's dog Boss likes to chew on, so it
has some capacity for large items, even though it's only about 5"
high. It didn't tangle on the carpet fringe, nor get stuck
anywhere else. At times it looks like it's met its match, going
all silent, but then, like Marines charging through the Muslim
lines, it gets through.

So, it works, but that does not win the Schlong seal of approval.
It has to keep working until I feel it's returned the investment, which
is maybe two years. I'll keep you informed. Vrooom,
vroom.

Comments:

Separate
from the White House, John Roberts now leads a Supreme Court that very
clearly can be persuaded by PR campaigns and is now constantly targeted
to do what is right in terms of public relations and not necessarily
the law or constitution. Erick
Erikson

#####

"Our son, a carpenter? Oy."... Hope you had a blessed day Mr. & Mrs. Schlong and family.

Wii controlled robots. I've had the roomba for coupla years now, the maintenance is more than on your average vacuum cleaner. I do like it's tenacity tho. And it doesn't ever go down the stairs, gotta like that.

I know a robotics professor who has one of these, and she likes it! I don't know how long she has had it, but will ask her when I see her next time. I can't imagine it would have much power, but I think it would work for hardwood floors and vinyl. Would definitely freak out the cats!

It does an amazing job on rugs. The Wind Tunnel vacuum is pretty powerful, yet after using it, the Romba sucked up plenty of embedded dirt in the same area. The dogs here have not freaked out - don't even bark at it, but do steer clear.